


all around me i see who i want to be

by Serie11



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Muses, Self-Reflection, Slice of Life, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 23:56:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20732831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: Leah thinks there’s something strange about the new farmer that has moved into the abandoned farm.





	all around me i see who i want to be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sunspot (unavoidedcrisis)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unavoidedcrisis/gifts).

Leah thinks there’s something strange about the new farmer that has moved into the abandoned farm.

Honestly, that’s in line with how strange the valley is. When she’d first moved out here, she’d had her suspicions, but after immersing herself in the life that she’s built here, she’s at the point where she just accepts it. Yes, strange monsters run around in the dark, and there’s probably a real life wizard living in the forest, and yes she’s sure that several people in town can actually cast magic spells, but that’s just how life is in Stardew Valley. This farmer fits the town well enough, and Leah isn’t surprised when she hears that the farmer’s grandfather used to live on the farm. Strangeness passed down through blood – yep, a story that fits right in with the rest of the weirdness here. She’s an anomaly, someone who chose to move into the valley as an adult, but sometimes she feels like that makes her fit more than anything else. She _chose _this. 

She catches glimpses of the farmer every now and then, every time doing something stranger than the time before. She uses the farmer as inspiration for a few of her pieces – a spiralling sculpture that reaches out in strange and unexpected ways, a charcoal drawing of a determined face pulling against a fishing line. Maybe one day she’ll find the courage to show her art to her new muse.

The farmer is always quick on their feet, always out and about, talking to someone in town or in the mines, or out fishing at the pond or the ocean. Leah has no idea where they’re finding the strength or the time to do so. Even when she feels like she’s had a productive day, she almost never seems to have any time to just sit out in the forest without feeling the pressure to draw the new growth that she can see sprouting along the trees. Spring is well and truly here – she’ll have to see about finding some new wood to use for her woodcarving. Maybe she can ask the farmer about it. She’s seen them carting around an axe and a few logs, and there’s always downed trees to be found in the forest.

Maybe that’s something that she’s missing – just time, to spend out and about in the valley, time to discover if she resonates with any of the overt magic here. Art is a magic of all of itself, and she knows that, but sometimes it’s frustrating how hard it is for her to really get a piece _right. _Though who is she to say that the other denizens of the valley don’t struggle with their own magic, in their own ways?

The farmer continues to work at a pace that astounds her and most of the other people that Leah talks to. They give her gifts that are suspiciously tailored to her likes, and by the time fall has come around the once derelict farm is bustling with life, crops and animals and flowers and fish and bees and fruit trees in bloom. It’s far too much for one person to have accomplished in the space of time that the farmer has had to work with, but Leah long ago learned to stop questioning the strange things that happen in Stardew Valley. The farmer is just the newest addition to add to her pile of things to draw inspiration from.

The valley is teeming with life and magic, and Leah enjoys living here more and more with every year that passes. She supposes that she’s her own type of strange character, with her art and her quietness and how she sees the sparkle of potential in every person that she meets.

Leah thinks there’s something strange about everyone who lives in Stardew Valley. But if there wasn’t, she wouldn’t enjoy being here so much, so she counts her blessings where she finds them, and draws the ones that she can. 

**Author's Note:**

> I recently started another playthrough of SDV, and I thought how funny it was that my character, who is supposed to be a city slicker, is running around knowing what the best type of crops to plant are, and how to be the most efficient with gifts, and what to invest in, and how to save up for animals... Then I realised that meant my character pretty much fit in with the magical vibe of the valley XD 
> 
> Anyway, this was a type of reflection on that. Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
